Eat less sugar and feel better for it

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From breakfast cereals and frothy coffees, to Christmas treats and party bag chews, sugar is all around us and it is very tempting, as well as very tasty.

We know sugar is found in sweets, biscuits, and cakes, but it is also hidden in bread, dips, and sauces, and that’s where many of us really fall down and our intake adds up.

Eating too much sugar is linked to tooth decay, mood swings and weight gain, so while we aren’t going to tell you to stop enjoying it altogether, we do have some simple swaps which can help you cut down, without missing out.

Clear out at the cupboards
Let’s face it, if the kitchen is packed with sugary snacks and treats, people will eat them, remove temptation and they can’t. Go through your fridge and cupboard and have a look at what you are currently buying and see where changes can be made and once something sweet has gone, don’t replace it. When you are more aware of what you are buying, you may well find that as your shopping habits change, your bill goes down and your sweet tooth eases.

Easy swaps
Scrambled eggs rather than waffles for breakfast, carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus after school and natural yogurt with a handful of nuts and raisins for supper are all healthy offerings that taste good and take the sugar down. Change isn’t always easy, but over time healthier eating does become a way of life and you never know, you might suddenly realise what you have been missing out on.

Cook from scratch
You might think that an organic tomato sauce in a jar is a healthy bolognaise option, but you will be surprised just how much sugar, and other additives and preservatives, are added to get that perfect taste. If you really want to know what you are eating, make it yourself. Yes, it might take a little longer, but we are pretty sure it will be better for you and if you get the family involved, it can bring you together and make you closer as well as healthier.

Size matters
One biscuit is fine; the entire packet isn’t! It is so easy to eat as you watch TV or swipe right on your phone, but as you munch through that popcorn and chocolate, the sugar levels will be increasing and in time, your waistline will too. Look at having three balanced meals a day, packed with fresh fruit and veg, as well as two healthy snacks and plenty of water, and look at keeping portion sizes reasonable, and added extras down.

You are what you drink
As we have just mentioned water, we are going to say right now that sugary drinks should ideally be avoided. Fizzy drinks and syrup laden hot chocolates won’t do you any favours and while we think fruit juices and smoothies are good for us, in the main it is best to drink water and milk. Boring, maybe, good for you, yes! If you do want to make your water a little more uplifting, try adding ice along with some cucumber, mint, basil or rosemary and you will be better off for it.

So, we aren’t saying to give up everything you love, but we do recommend taking time to look at what you are eating and drinking, and seeing how just a few small changes could make a difference not only to your hair, skin and teeth, but your mood and pocket too!

Team Pure Beauty

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Good Health for the New Term

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adults, advice, anxiety, back pain, backs, bedtimes, books, boost, bugs, chemical, children’s health, clean hair, clear sign, colds, combing conditioner, conversations, depression, dirty hair, emotional health, family, family life, fine-toothed comb, fruit and vegetables, gaps, good health, GP, hair, happy, head lice, healthy diet, heavy bags, help, homework, immune system, itching, kid’s multi-vitamin supplement, kit, laptops, long, mobile devices, natural, new school term, nits, open line of communication, pencil case, physical well-being, poor posture, rucksack, school children, self harm, shoes, short, shoulders, sleep, spines, sports kits, stress, stretching, suffer, sunglight, support, Tea Tree, top tips, under the duvet texting, uniform, Vitamin D, wet hair, withdrawal

The uniforms have been bought and labels have been stuck on, the shoes have been shined and the new pencil cases are the cleanest they will ever be. While we know it is important to get their kit ready when it comes to the new school term, it is also worth looking at your children’s health too.

While you can’t stop them catching colds and picking up bugs, you can give them the best start to good health and we have got some top tips so you can help them feel their best.

Immune System Boost
School children are constantly picking up colds and viruses, so it is really important to keep their immune systems strong. As well as a healthy diet, packed with fruit and vegetables, it might be worth giving them a kid’s multi-vitamin supplement to plug the gaps and keep them healthy. Do speak to your GP or pharmacist about which product is best for your child and remember that as well as those key vitamins we all know about, as the nights draw in and there is less sunlight, added Vitamin D could be a smart move too.

Treat Head Lice
Head lice are quickly spread by head-to-head contact and with children playing close together, it is no wonder they can become rife, fast when the new term starts. Clean hair, dirty hair, long or short – it really doesn’t matter, these little bugs simply want to get onto your child’s scalp so the best thing you can do is check hair on a regular basis and if there is a lot of itching going on, it might be a clear sign something is up. If you find your child does have head lice, you can start to combat the problem by combing conditioner through their wet hair using a special fine-toothed comb. This method can help to remove the head lice and nits (empty shells) but if this doesn’t work you can use a natural (often tea tree based) or chemical lotion instead to blast the bugs away.

Keep Backs Healthy
It isn’t just adults who suffer from back pain, thanks to heavy bags and poor posture, children are increasingly being plagued too. Yes, they need to take in books, laptops and sports kits, but using a rucksack and carrying their load on both shoulders is a back healthy way to go. Sitting up in class and stretching at the end of the day can also help even things out and keep spines happy.

Communicate
It isn’t just physical well-being that is important for children, but emotional health too. With almost a quarter of 14-year-old girls found to have used self-harm as a way to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression, it is really important to try to keep an open line of communication with your children. We know this isn’t always easy and that when there are problems opening up can be hard, but try to have those conversations and see where help is needed. Keep an eye on much time is being spent on screens, whether there is withdrawal from family life and if you are worried, speak to a teacher or your GP about getting more support and advice.

Bedtime
Every family has different rules when it comes to bedtime and screens. The reality is that mobile devices are often found in the bedroom late at night and these can impact sleep and overall health. Find a plan that works for you and your children, decide on a bedtime, ensure homework is done so there are no last-minute panics that impact stress and sleep, and ensure mobiles are turned off and there is no under the duvet texting which means getting up the next day is tough.

Good luck!

Team Pure Beauty

Treat Your Mum this Mother’s Day

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artificial colours, body, DEA, Decleor 1000 Grains Body Exfoliator, Decleor Iris Rejuvenating Night Balm, Dermalogica AGE Smart Starter Kit, Dermalogica Antioxidant HydraMist, Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF30, Dermalogica MAP-15 Regenerator, Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Firm, Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque, Dermalogica Renewal Lip Complex, Dermalogica Skin Resurfacing Cleanser, dry, Elemis Sweet Orchid Monoi Body Oil, Elemis Treat Your Feet Foot Cream, fragrance, gift, hair, Jojoba oil, mature, mineral oil, moisturisation, Mother’s Day, mum, nail, oils, pamper, parabens, parched, present, Relax, scent, Shea butter, skin, smell, sodium laureth sulphate, spoil, treat

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Mother’s Day is a special day where we all get the chance to show our mums exactly what they mean to us. It’s a time when Mums deserve to be pampered, and buying them the gift of beauty is a great way to do that. We may be biased, but we think almost everything we stock would make an amazing gift for your Mum this Mother’s Day, but in the interest of narrowing it down a bit, here’s 5 of the best:

Elemis Treat Your Feet Foot Cream

If your Mum spends a lot of time on her feet, this foot cream would be the ideal present for her. It’s an intensely moisturising formula which melts into the feet, nourishing the skin and softening areas of hardness. It contains conditioning shea butter and jojoba oil and smells wonderful. It bears the Elemis promise, meaning your Mum knows that there’s no parabens, sodium laureth sulphate, DEA, mineral oil or artificial colours in her treat.

Decleor Iris Rejuvenating Night Balm

This night balm from Decleor is a product which will not only work hard to make your Mum’s skin feel amazing, but it will also give her an excuse to take five minutes to pamper herself each evening. It’s to work at night when the skin is most receptive and will soothe the skin, reduce fine lines and wrinkles and increase cell renewal.

Dermalogica AGE Smart Starter Kit

This gift set from Dermalogica is the perfect introduction for your Mum to the wonderful anti-ageing products that Dermalogica has to offer. It contains Dermalogica Skin Resurfacing Cleanser, Dermalogica Antioxidant HydraMist, Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque, Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm, Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF30, Dermalogica MAP-15 Regenerator, Dermalogica Renewal Lip Complex (sample), which means she’ll get a perfect overview of the products, allowing her to buy the full price versions for herself if she wants to.

Decleor 1000 Grains Body Exfoliator

This exfoliator from Decleor has a unique consistency, which starts as a gel, which then turns into an oil and then becomes an easy-to-rinse milk upon contact with water. It contains grapefruit oil and pearl sugar which combines to leave the skin feeling softer, smoother and refined.

Elemis Sweet Orchid Monoi Body Oil

Body oils are a great way to pamper yourself from head-to-toe and this one from Elemis has a fabulously indulgent fragrance. It’s rapidly absorbed providing superior moisturisation for dry, parched or mature skin and can even be used to condition the body, hair and nails.

Hair Loss – What’s Causing it and How to Prevent It

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bald, baldness, conditioner, decleor, dermalogica, Elemis, Elemis Quiet Mind Temple Balm, female, female pattern baldness, follicles, hair, hair loss, heat, iron, Male Pattern Baldness, multivitamin, patches, polycystic ovarian syndrome, roots, shaft, stress, styling, supplement, thinning, vitamin A, Vitamin B12, weight, weight loss

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Hair loss is something that women rarely discuss and the taboo surrounding female hair loss can stop us from seeking proper help when it does happen. We’ve all heard of Male Pattern Baldness, but did you know there’s also Female Pattern Baldness? There are many things which can contribute to female baldness and hair thinning and we’ve put together a list of the main culprits:

Hormones

A woman’s hormones are a delicate balance which keep everything running smoothly, but when things get messed up it can have a lot of knock on effects, and hair loss is one of them. Pregnancy, menopause and even conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome can cause hair loss. If you think a hormone imbalance might be contributing to your hair loss, ask your GP to perform a simple blood test to take a look at your levels.

Vitamin Deficiencies

There are a number of vitamins which can affect hair growth and if you’re lacking iron, vitamin B12 or vitamin A, you might have problems with hair loss. Try to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit and veg and proteins, and take a multivitamin supplement to bolster your system.

Weight Loss

Losing too much weight too quickly can have a dramatic effect on your hair and it’s not unknown for a sudden drop in your weight to cause temporary baldness. If you’re planning to lose weight, try to do so healthily over a decent period of time rather than crash dieting as this can send your body into shock.

Too Much Heat Styling

We all know that heat styling can break your hair, but too much of it over time can weaken and damage hair follicles, destroying their ability to grown new hairs and this can equate to bald patches. If you must style your hair with heat, use a good conditioner, try not to pull too hard on the shaft of the hair and try not to let the heat styling implement get too close to the roots of your hair.

Stress

One of the single most common causes of hair loss is stress and the only way to halt the effects is to reduce the amount of stress in your life. Take a look at what the main sources of stress are in your life and ask a friend or partner to help you change them. Taking some time for yourself to de-stress is a good idea, so treat yourself to some Elemis Quiet Mind Temple Balm for rubbing on your temples when you feel overwhelmed.

Self Care – How To Start Loving Yourself

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anxiety, bath, care, company, confidence, decleor, depressed, depression, dermalogica, Elemis, exercise, friends, hair, isolation, love, low, mood, nails, sad, sadness, seasonal affective disorder, self-care, self-esteem, shower, treat, walk, wash, washing, yourself

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There’s a very real correlation between mental health issues and not really looking after yourself properly. A lack of self-esteem, depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can all leave us feeling totally unwilling to spend any time on ourselves, and this can feed into a very self-destructive cycle. We know how difficult it can be to force yourself to love who you are, but doing little things to care for yourself each day can really help your mood to take an upswing.

Wash Regularly

One of the first things that falls by the wayside when people are depressed is regular washing, choosing instead to languish in your comfy clothes and not take care of the most basic of functions. The problem is, the less clean you are often the more depressed you feel and the more depressed you feel, the harder it is to get yourself sorted. It may take all of your strength to do it, but giving yourself a nice bath or shower can really help to set you on the path to feeling better.

Look At Yourself Through Someone Else’s Eyes

If you’ve got issues with low self esteem, it can be really difficult to have a subjective opinion of yourself, because you’re internally programmed to just hate what you see. Try to look in the mirror each day and refuse to listen to the internal voice which cuts you down, but instead try to look at yourself through someone elses eyes. Training your brain to think differently, in the style of “someone else might think I have nice eyes” “someone else would probably love my thick hair” can really bolster your confidence.

Take Time For Yourself

When you’re feeling down, there’s a tendency to feel like shutting yourself away and doing very little, but getting out and about and doing something for yourself can create a real upswing for you mood. Take yourself for a walk, go and have a coffee, get your nails or hair done – it’s all minor stuff to most people but it will feel like you’ve conquered Everest if you do it, and you’ll have the added bonus of having nice hair or nails in the bargain.

Accept Help

If you’re lucky enough to have people around you who want to help, LET THEM! It can be very easy to isolate oneself and shrink away from offers of help from other people when we’re feeling low, but allowing people in can lift a weight from your shoulders, which in turn can help lift your mood. They say that “misery loves company”, but sometimes misery can go a long way to being cured with just a little bit of company.